Marking and sealing tag



Sept. 22, 1931. J. J. PERQUIN ET AL IARKING AND SEALING TAG Filed Jan. 8. 1929 Patented Sept. 22, 193i JOANNUS JAcoBUsrERoum AND HENRI moa s rn-Anoxnm' or ma ician;

nn rnnnpnnns MARKING AND sta ens o;

Application filed January'8, 1929, SerialNo. 31,038 and inthe Netlierlands January 14; 1928.- v

This invention relates to improvements in marking and sealing tags, especially adapted for use for attachment to the animals but also adapted for other similar uses.

The invention is more particularly concerned with tags of that type comprising a strip of metal adapted to be bent to form two arms and which is pointed at one end and adapted at that end to be bent at right angles to the plane of the strip, the other end being formed with a slot through which the pointed end is passed and curled over on closing the tag by means of a pair of tongs or any other instrument.

Such tags are for example used as ear markers for slaughter-cattle, which prior to slaughterhave been insured by some insurance company.

These tags may or number. s

The tags are also used for living cattle as proof of examination and that they have been found free from tuberculosis or'other disease.

It is clear that such tags should not possess an irregular outline or be so formed as to catch in the branches of a tree, barbed wire hear an identification mark or the like with the result that the animals car may be torn, the vwound infected and the tag lost. Moreover such markers must be so constructed as to prevent their misuse so that once opened they are irreparably damaged to such an extent that theyare incapableof reuse. I

The object of the invention is to provide an improved form of tag'which meets all these requirements.

According to the invention the tag is formed of a strip of sheet metal having at 7 one end a point and at the other end a substantially circular head having a slot for the reception of the points; this slot, onones1de of the strip is covered by a cap, which has a guiding face on itsinner side for automatically curling the prong or point when the tag is closed after the point has been passed through the slot and the invention consists essentially in that the dome-shaped cap of hard material is of substantially circular circumference and the correspondingly shaped I edge of the cap is folded over the periphery of the head and against the underside of the strip in order to fix the cap to'the strip; the head being connected tothe body of the strip by a neck, the width of which isless than the diameterof the head, V

It .hasibeen discovered that notwithstanding thefactthat the rounded cap protects the curledpoint fully from'uncurling by means of any tool, it is still possiblein certain cases by careful operation towithdraw the point from the slot'by' uncurling the point slowly, in such a way that the tag can be flattened and used again.

A further object of-the invention is therefore to prevent this possibility and this is attained by weakening the metal of the strip at certain points in such a way that if'an attempt is made to" forcibly open the rag it will'be broken at oneor otherof these points. One or more incisions inthe metal of the strip may :be, made for. this purpose. which will i break at that place, thusmaking the strip by an incision at somedistance'from the end of the point, immediately below the portion which forms the cu'rl, v J

('0) That part of the circular extremity of the strip which hous'esthe curl of the :point' is formed withtwo cuts, one on either sideof the; slot and is further weakened by an incione ,ofthe facesof the metal 'sion extending from the baseof one cut to that of theiother, andi fdesired by a hole, in

such a wa y that'thepar t situated between I the two cuts, which houses the curl for-ms a lip which breaks it an attempt is made to withdraw jthe curl from the cap. i The invention is illustratedfin theiacco m} panying drawings in which'i Figures 1 and 2 are afplan and side eleva tion'of'atagha'vingthe feature a.

Figures 3 and a-resimilar views of a tag havingfeature b. I 1 Figures 5 andl6 are similarviews having feature '0, Figure G'being partlyin section 'i and Figure 7 is a section of a tag to a larger scale provided with features a, b and and in closed or sealed position.

1 indicates a sheet metal strip, which is formed at one end with a point 2 and atthe opposite end with a substantiallycircular head which is provided with a slot 3, and to which head a substantially circular cap or housing 4 is fixed by folding the edge of the lip is provided with a weakening opening.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

JOANNUS JAOOBUS PERQUIN. HENRI JAOOBUS FRANCKEN.

cap'over and around the peripheral'edge'of V the head and against the under side of the strip. The cap 4: has a dome 5 provided with a guiding face for curlingv and housing the point 2 when the tag is closed by pressing the I of the metal located at such a distance from the end of the point that the incision after the point is curled is positioned below and at one side of the curl. V

7 10 and 11 indicate two cuts in that part of the head which form a part of the housing for the curl in the cap. As will be seen these cuts are made at the ends of the slot 3 and they extend toward the neck. A lip 9 is thus formed which must break oil when any one attempts to draw the point out of the cap, and for this purpose it is also weakened at its foot by an incision 12 in the face of the metal, and an opening 13 is provided in the tag at a point inthe neck or narrow end of the lip.

It is clear that any one or more of the features-mentioned (a, b and a) may be applied to the same tag.-

What we claim-is:

- 1. A'marking and sealing tag comprising a sheet metal strip having a narrowed point at one end anda substantially circular head at the opposite end provided with a slot for the reception of the point and a substantially circular cap on the head, covering the slot and having a continuous peripheral portion bent around the peripheral edge of the head. 2. A tag asclaimed in claim 1, in which. the strip is provided also with a lip extending to one side of the slot andon which the point ofthe strip bears when said point has beenpassed throughthe slot and bent and 1 sion near the point.

.4. A tag as claimed in claim 1, in' which the strip is provided also with a lip extending toone side of the slot and on which the point of the strip bears when said point has been'passed'through' the slot and bent and clenched under the cap and the neck ofsaid 

